Kerry's pitch: hope for a new America

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Promising help is on the way, the Democratic candidate says the US can do better.

The image of Senator John Kerry steaming across Boston Harbour on a ferry with his "band of brothers" from the Vietnam War may have looked like flim-flam in Australian eyes. But in the context of a United States political convention, Senator Kerry was making an obvious and very personal point about leadership. These massive conventions represent the crass side of US politics, replete with Stars and Stripes, star-spangled banners, posters and badges, salutes and back-slapping. They are largely a theatrical conclusion to a democratic process that begins with the so-called primaries. Senator Kerry's formal nomination as the Democratic Party presidential candidate was delivered symbolically by a block of 159 votes from Ohio, proffered to the convention by former Ohio senator and astronaut John Glenn. History attests to Ohio's sway: past results show that if Ohio is lost to the Republicans, so too is the presidency.

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John Forbes Kerry made his pitch to the American people, marking the formal start of a three-month election campaign that will determine who will become the leader of the world's only remaining superpower. With opinion polls showing President George Bush lagging in the leadership approval ratings and the two contenders almost equal in terms of voter preference polls, Senator Kerry's acceptance speech was seen as a critical opportunity to woo an American electorate still searching for answers on Iraq and on the nation's progress in the war on terrorism. Senator Kerry, a decorated war hero, played that card for all it was worth, offering a sharp rebuke of the Bush Administration: "I will be a commander-in-chief who will never mislead us into war." While promising to guard US sovereignty, he pledged a path of multilateralism in international affairs in marked contrast to that of the Bush camp. He promised to use force if necessary, but not pre-emptively. He promised protection of civil and states' rights. He said he would work for a world in which America was looked up to, "not just feared".

There is a large section of the US electorate, not to mention the international community, for whom Senator Kerry's words represent the prospect of a different kind of America to the one being projected by the incumbent administration. Despite attempts by the Republicans to cast him as flip-flop man on policy matters, the Kerry camp is fighting hard to convince Americans that he stands as a credible alternative to Mr Bush. He has developed a platform based on ideas and ideals, both in domestic and foreign policy, that are distinct from those of the Republicans. Perhaps the most significant difference is his rejection of the pre-emptive strike doctrine adopted by Mr Bush, one that has made not just Americans but the rest of the world nervous about America's role in global affairs. Senator Kerry has laid down the challenge; the gloves are off.